


this old house is bound to fall

by MissSunFlower94



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Are they platonic? are they romantic?, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Guilt, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Other, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Well officer mostly they're just sad, you know. the usual post-174 tags
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-18
Updated: 2020-10-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:07:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27084604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissSunFlower94/pseuds/MissSunFlower94
Summary: "This isn’t about fixing things, this is just you punishing yourself!”Some people overwork themselves? to cope?
Relationships: Celiquillithon "Cel" Sidebottom & Zolf Smith, Celiquillithon "Cel" Sidebottom/Zolf Smith
Comments: 7
Kudos: 39





	this old house is bound to fall

**Author's Note:**

> Post-174. Working under the assumption that there's going to be a bit of downtime before any resurrection ritual is ready. 
> 
> I need them to be comforting each other always.

Zolf is giving Draal and Nataan instructions on what they can be doing to help salvage the airship when he notices Cel watching him, the first time he’s seen them in what feels like hours. They’re hugging their arms around themself, shifting their weight from foot to foot and look like they’re waiting for him to finish. He feels a dull version of the dread he might have felt, assuming they’re waiting to give him bad news. Currently everything feels a little dulled. 

He dismisses the kobolds with as much info as he can provide, and joins Cel. “What’s happened?” He asks carefully. They don’t respond right away and he risks adding, “How bad are the engines?”

Cel shakes their head. There’s a similar dullness in their eyes, bloodshot and swollen around the corners. He misses the way they would light up; he remembers the way they sparkled when he first plugged the airship engines in, how gratifying it had been to be the reason for their joy. 

“They’re- well, so far they’re not terrible. Not- probably not unsalvageable with enough t-time and help.” Before Zolf can say anything, they add. “I’m- I’m s- I’m not finished assessing them, is- is the thing. So, I can’t tell you what I need yet. I just- I needed to-”

Suddenly they won’t meet his eye, tightening their arms around themself. Zolf wants so much to reach out to them, but he can’t guarantee that won’t make things worse. “What-” he begins. 

“I- I can’t concentrate,” Cel says, their voice quivering. “I need- you can- you can help with that, right? Curing- what was it? Fatigue? Or-or-or is it frightened? Or sick? Or does it do… all of those? I think I might be all of those…”

Zolf studies them, trying to think of what to say. He knows all of this just looking at them, but it still hurts to hear them say it, their voice so soft and broken. His eyes search their face, pale and tearstained and on one hand, he wants nothing more than to give them some relief. But… 

“Cel, maybe you should get some rest,” he says, gentle as he can.

They shake their head again. “We don’t- there isn’t time for that - you know there isn’t- it’s like you said, we need to get the ship ready to take off as soon as- as soon- once everything is-” Cel swallows hard, and can’t finish the statement. 

“I said that before plans changed,” he points out. “We’ve got… time right now and rushing things isn’t- well, not- I’m not saying I don’t tru- that you wouldn’t manage it- just, magic… shouldn’t necessarily be replacing you getting real sleep.” 

Cel presses their lips together. “I mean, you were pretty- pretty pro-magicing us all awake in Shoin’s dungeon and-”

“Cel-”

“And- and if I learn that there is something that we don’t have resources for then we should know that now and- and it isn’t that I don’t trust the kobolds but I really think I need to be- after everything- I should-” 

“Cel-”

“And I know I don’t understand d-divine magic but I can’t imagine it uses that much of your resources since you did it so often before-”

“That’s not- Cel, it’s not about my resources, it’s about _you_!” He says, harsher than he means. “This isn’t- this isn’t about fixing things, this is just you punishing yourself!” 

He regrets his tone immediately as Cel stiffens with a sharp inhale. Their eyes swim with fresh tears. He lowers his voice, ignores the way it cracks as he mutters, “Look. I- I know what you’re thinking and, I… get it, Cel. You know I do, but it’s not- I don’t want you to… go through that.”

There’s a tense pause but after minute Cel softens, almost smiling. “Little, um- little late for that.”

“I know,” he says, returning the broken smile. After a moment’s hesitation, he reaches out and rests a hand on their forearm. There’s no magic in the touch but their tense posture eases slightly all the same. He rubs his thumb gently over their sleeve. “Please rest. For- for me. I need- I can’t lose you, too.”

Cel’s eyes widen a little and, in spite of everything, Zolf nearly flushes. Before he can overthink his words, Cel lowers themself to hug him tightly and he immediately brings his arms around them in turn. He can’t tell if he’s shaking or they are or they both are - regardless, all he can do is hold them tighter.

“I can’t lose you either,” Cel whispers.

He wants to tell them they won’t, but now is the last time for that kind of promise. He refuses to hurt them more when so much is unknown. Instead, he pulls back, lifting himself onto the toes of his mechanical legs and pressing his lips to their forehead. Cel chokes back a small sob. 

He brushes a few tears off their cheek. “Get some rest, Cel. I’ll wake you if you’re needed - I promise.”

They pull away completely and nod shakily. “Okay. Okay.” They look behind them, toward the interior of the broken ship, then back at him with another small smile. “Thank you, Zolf. I, uh… thank you.”

Zolf reaches out and squeezes their hand quickly. “Sleep well.”

He waits until they’re fully out of sight before wiping away his own tears. He takes a deep breath, and gets back to work. 


End file.
